Ryan Castro turned the rollout for his new Feid collaboration “Mentira” into a distinctly Medellín moment, welcoming Spanish football superstar and World Cup champion Lamine Yamal for a surprise appearance in the city’s Comuna 13.
What began as another celebration surrounding Castro’s latest release quickly expanded beyond a traditional single rollout. With thousands gathering in the streets, the Colombian star and Yamal found themselves at the center of a spontaneous celebration connecting reggaeton, football and Medellín’s increasingly global cultural influence.
The appearance also carried history between the two stars. Yamal’s connection to Ryan Castro’s music predates the Medellín visit. After Spain captured the UEFA Euro 2024 championship, Yamal was seen celebrating alongside teammate Nico Williams while singing and dancing to Castro’s “El Ritmo Que Nos Une,” the song created around Colombia’s national football team.
Two years later, that connection has moved from a European locker room directly into Castro’s hometown.
For Ryan Castro, the timing is particularly significant. “Mentira,” featuring fellow Medellín heavyweight Feid, serves as the first single from Castro’s upcoming album and reunites two artists who have become central figures in the modern Colombian urbano movement.
The collaboration follows “Monastery” from 2021 and “Ritmo de Medallo” from 2023, making “Mentira” the latest chapter in a creative relationship that has grown alongside both artists’ international careers. This time, the record leans into the contradictions of a complicated relationship — attraction, distrust and emotional distance — while maintaining the reggaeton foundation that connects both artists to Medellín.
But the larger story surrounding the release may be how Castro continues to position his hometown as part of the product rather than simply the backdrop.
Earlier this year, Castro returned to Medellín for a major hometown stadium performance at Estadio Atanasio Girardot, bringing together a wide lineup of Colombian urbano stars. His latest street-level appearances move in the opposite direction in scale but reinforce the same idea: even as his career becomes increasingly international, Medellín remains central to how Ryan Castro presents himself to the world.
That distinction matters in a Latin music market where global expansion can sometimes push artists toward increasingly universal aesthetics. Castro has largely taken another route. His international growth has continued while the language, neighborhoods, football culture and visual identity of Medellín remain embedded in his brand.
Yamal’s presence makes that strategy even more visible.
Football has become an increasingly valuable cultural bridge for Latin artists, particularly as global players openly embrace reggaeton and Latin urbano. Castro has already experienced that crossover organically with “El Ritmo Que Nos Une.” Seeing Yamal go from celebrating a European championship with Ryan’s music to appearing alongside the artist in Medellín demonstrates how far that cultural exchange can travel.
It also shows Medellín’s changing position within global pop culture. The city is no longer simply exporting artists such as J Balvin, Karol G, Feid and Ryan Castro. Increasingly, international athletes, creators and entertainers are entering the city’s cultural ecosystem themselves.
For Castro, “Mentira” therefore arrives as more than the beginning of another album campaign. It comes during a stage in which the self-described “Cantante del Ghetto” is translating hometown credibility into international cultural currency without separating the two.
With a new album cycle beginning and additional touring ahead, the question now becomes how far Castro can scale that formula. “Mentira” gives him another major collaboration with Feid, but moments like Yamal’s Medellín appearance broaden the story beyond streaming numbers or individual singles.
Ryan Castro is increasingly selling the world on an entire ecosystem, the music, language, neighborhoods, football and energy surrounding Medellín.
And increasingly, the world is showing up.
Stay connected with LaMezcla.com for the latest on Ryan Castro, Feid and the next wave of Colombian urbano, and discover “Mentira” alongside new Latin music through the LaMezcla Music App.